Correction: rules-based international order (never mind the rules are whatever Westerners says)
Chinese Soft Power and Media Discussion and Updates
- Thread starter tankphobia
- Start date
I don’t find it surprising at all that South Korea produces these shows putting China in a bad light. In every poll, they have a strong negative feelings towards China, and that has been happening since I was in high school 20 years ago. Even back then in a Canadian high school, the few Korean students would look down on the Chinese students.
One even wrote in my high school year book that “Korea well take over China soon” instead on just congratulations on graduating. that’s pretty petty. lol I told him that is more likely South Korea will be bought back to the motherland by North Korea. lol he did not like that.
during Trumps first term, he said that Xi told him Korea used to be a part of China. Of course I’m pretty sure Xi never said that but that’s what trump paraphrased out of his own ignorance. Lots of South Koreans took what he said at face value and hated on Xi for saying that and how it was china looking down at them and not giving them the respect they deserve.
then barely a week later when South Korea was negotiating with North Korea, trump literally said “they (South Korea) can’t do anything without us (the US)” literally disrespecting South Koreans on the world stage. You know what the South Koreans did? Not a peep, no condemnation, no hating on trump for disrespect.….
so yeah why even get worked up on their negative portrays. It’s expected.
i think China just haa to make sure that when push comes to shove, IF South Korea divides to aid the US militarily when it comes to Taiwan, then they will get hit hard.
manqiangrexue
Brigadier
That's what I do here. How else do I debate? Just give thumbs up to pro-China posts and tell them how right I think they are? LOL
That's exactly what I meant.
you are actually admitting he is correct though, when I think we should factually reject his assertions. Korea has less incoming tourists than Vietnam and Malaysia let alone China and all of Kpop makes comparable money to just Mihoyo alone. I don't even want to compare Korean box office to Chinese, it's a total mismatch (in China's favor).
What is the purpose of soft power?
1. To get tourists to spend money in your country.
2. To make direct money from media sales.
3. To get others to sacrifice for you for free.
South Korea fails at all 3:
1. It has less tourists than even Vietnam and Malaysia which have 0 media exports
2. It makes less money from media sales like movies and games than "uncool" "lame" China.
3. There is no country in the world that would fight for Korean ideology because WTF even is Korean ideology?
Another reason why "Chinese boomer" productions just aren't that appealing is because they grew up poor, and looked outwards for inspiration, because there was absolutely nothing inspiring inside China at that time, save for China's ancient history. They also grew up with a very conservative (with respect to dating) culture (which lasted basically up until the 2000's), which, let's be real, is highly unappealing. This is reflected in their work.
Chinese millenials are not weighed down by this; they also hold an optimism for the future that youth in western countries lack, which shows through in their work.
It comes down to this: if China were the type to lay waste to western cities, enslave their populations in a caste based system, and then inundate said populations with Goebbels type propaganda on a daily basis, China's soft power in the west would reach stratospheric heights, thus satisfying that contrarian poster.
In fact, such an arrangement would also be in preference for this poster - I mean - think about what we could get away with!!
However, China is committed to being a civilised superpower, where this type of barbarity would never be allowed to take root.
manqiangrexue
Brigadier
See I'm not a pop culture guy. I don't know what Mihoyo is but I think it's a gaming thing. I'd say it's Japanese by the name but think it's probably Chinese by the context in which you used it. Didn't bother to check the numbers and I'm surprised that Vietnam and Malaysia have more tourism than Korea. I just assumed from my experience in the US that Japanese anime and Korean drama/K-pop are the biggest hits out of Asia. I didn't know South Korea was such a runt everywhere... Thanks for the info.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Is K-pop music better than African-American music? Is it better than Latin music? No. Do African and Latino Americans have power beyond music? No. So what does "soft power" get you? Korean K-Pop stars don't even write their own music. It's written mostly by Americans.
The answer is wealth. Poor countries are not cool, partly because being poor isn't cool, but also because pool countries need to focus on living and not things that would make it cool like the environment, entertainment, cleanliness, etc. HK started having success when it modernized and its GDP per capita reached the US's level in the 70's, Japan and SK the same thing. China is becoming wealthier and now it's becoming cool.